Comments on: The Smell of Bicycle Commutinghttp://lovingthebike.com/bicycle-commuting/the-smell-of-bicycle-commuting
Mon, 12 Feb 2018 12:33:15 +0000hourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.4By: Labannhttp://lovingthebike.com/bicycle-commuting/the-smell-of-bicycle-commuting#comment-101751
Fri, 21 Aug 2015 12:12:17 +0000http://lovingthebike.com/?p=15822#comment-101751The private passenger car has been popular for just a century, that is, after the League of Wheelmen lobbied hard to get roads paved. Neither bikes nor cars would compete well with horses in open prairie or rutted paths. The vast distances from city to city and coast to coast were connected by rail. Midway, Republican POTUS Eisenhower enacted the interstate highways, which ban all other forms of transportation and favor motoring. Now the East and West Coasts are practically single megacities with other megacities in between. GOP still lobbies for automakers and Big Oil.

A new generation drops every 25-35 years. Before 1930, only one generation drove. By 1970, grandparents, parents and progeny had begun to compete for space on roads. By 1990, legislators felt compelled to include cyclists and pedestrians in road design, but CFRs are seen as intrusions on state rights. As many as 6 generations may be duking it out for road space with every alley, byway, lane, and side street loaded during most daylight hours. New laws have begun to crop up in suburbs with extra fines for racing through neighborhoods, since motorists can’t adapt to red lights at every intersection along main avenues after driving 90 mph on freeways, passing in gore areas and shoulders, and pushing legal limit drivers into guardrails.

The false advertising of motoring shows motorists happily tooling along empty roads. The reality is 90 hours per year of waiting in Los Angeles traffic. Driving has become infuriatingly intolerable. Sanity is restored by cycling and walking, both for cycling individuals and space they make for speed addicts who can’t kick the habit. Nobody hates bus, cab and delivery drivers and those who perform services for which they need to bring more than a bike can carry. That is interstate commerce. Soldiers also need to be able to move among states. Bikes should be the first choice for personal transportation, though living close to where you earn isn’t always possible, mostly due to irresponsible corporate policies that locate far from population centers and seldom make good use of internet telecommuting. Flextime isn’t enough anymore.

Take the pledge: “If I can bike there, I will.” The thousands of dollars spent on clothing, equipment and improved appetite is all net gain in length and quality of life as long as you don’t get killed by some lame motoring addict driven mad by road overcrowding.

]]>By: Labannhttp://lovingthebike.com/bicycle-commuting/the-smell-of-bicycle-commuting#comment-101615
Thu, 20 Aug 2015 14:58:03 +0000http://lovingthebike.com/?p=15822#comment-101615Been writing about bicycling culture since 1990, which is sort of a watershed year in terms of legislation in USA. It’s when the great gap in cycling infrastructure was addressed, and Code of Federal Regulations mandated equal accommodations for bicycles alongside motor vehicles where applicable. Automakers and Big Oil wanted to eliminate bicycles from streets, so from about 1965 in USA and 1970 in UK lobbied hardball to remove shoulders and withhold bike lane funding. Now the FHWA and USDOT withhold road funding for states without a plan that includes bike-ped. However, this is not a huge plenty, because governors only have to dip deeper into taxpayer pockets at home or don’t do any work at all until bridges and road are nearly impassable, decades from now, then cry over billions in shortfalls and grab grants to further misappropriate.

Meanwhile, charities make it a cottage industry to collect private funding for advocacy and educational purposes when states don’t proactively meet CFRs. Everyone comes out ahead but cyclists.

So, love the bike, but hate the inhumanity of motorists and political corruption that makes cycling so unpleasant at times depending upon where you need to ride.

]]>By: Darryl is Loving the Bikehttp://lovingthebike.com/bicycle-commuting/the-smell-of-bicycle-commuting#comment-101302
Tue, 18 Aug 2015 18:31:26 +0000http://lovingthebike.com/?p=15822#comment-101302Nice, thanks for the input Labann. Keep on Loving the Bike.
]]>By: Labannhttp://lovingthebike.com/bicycle-commuting/the-smell-of-bicycle-commuting#comment-101301
Tue, 18 Aug 2015 18:28:16 +0000http://lovingthebike.com/?p=15822#comment-101301Exchange changes of clothes in big bags on rainy days. Keep a pair of shoes to replace cleats. Shave and shower before each ride. Change in a restroom stall, comb hair, and wipe off sweat. Change back into previously used bike clothes for return trip. Did this almost every day for almost a decade while commuting, never much of a hassle. Got no complaints from coworkers, even inspired a few others to try it, too.

]]>By: Darryl is Loving the Bikehttp://lovingthebike.com/bicycle-commuting/the-smell-of-bicycle-commuting#comment-14757
Wed, 05 Feb 2014 20:06:00 +0000http://lovingthebike.com/?p=15822#comment-14757Haha, nice one Colin.
]]>By: Darryl is Loving the Bikehttp://lovingthebike.com/bicycle-commuting/the-smell-of-bicycle-commuting#comment-14756
Wed, 05 Feb 2014 20:05:00 +0000http://lovingthebike.com/?p=15822#comment-14756Thanks John, I lived in Austin for many years so I know all about the heat over there. Thanks for your comments and tips.
]]>By: johnhttp://lovingthebike.com/bicycle-commuting/the-smell-of-bicycle-commuting#comment-14754
Wed, 05 Feb 2014 15:32:00 +0000http://lovingthebike.com/?p=15822#comment-14754You do NOT need a shower at work to commute by bike. I live in Austin Texas, and it gets very hot here. Most days I ride, but other times I run to work. When I ride, I like to push the pace and get in some training. When I run, I get in some trails and take a couple of hours to get to work. I arrive so completely drenched in sweat I look like I just walked under a sprinkler. I still don’t NEED a shower. And I don’t smell all day. Believe me, the people I work with would let me know if I did.
The trick is to make sure you take a shower before leaving home. Wear clean cycling clothes. I air dry mine in the sun to make sure they are really clean. Sweat does not smell. Bad smells come from the breakdown of sweat later. Two hours of sweating is not enough to make you smell if you do a quick wipe down. Next step is to cool off. I use a small desk fan and cool off for 15 minutes before going to clean up. I use the time to check my emails and open files to get started on work. You want to make sure you have stopped sweating before you clean up. I have found that this is critical. I just use a washcloth and small race towel to clean the key areas. If I ran, I usually wash my hair at the sink. Then I get changed in one of the stalls. This all only takes about 5-10 minutes.

Also, I don’t use deodorant. I have found that baking soda works better, lasts much longer, and costs next to nothing. Just powder a little on and you’re good to go.

Most of the time I just let my clothes dry out at my desk. If I run, or when it is very humid, I do bring another set of running clothes for the trip home.

]]>By: Collin Stringerhttp://lovingthebike.com/bicycle-commuting/the-smell-of-bicycle-commuting#comment-14724
Mon, 27 Jan 2014 06:15:00 +0000http://lovingthebike.com/?p=15822#comment-14724I easily bathe in a mop closet, but the door cannot be locked. It is understood that if anyone hears noise from within, don’t open — or you might get mooned!
]]>By: Darryl is Loving the Bikehttp://lovingthebike.com/bicycle-commuting/the-smell-of-bicycle-commuting#comment-14715
Fri, 24 Jan 2014 21:14:00 +0000http://lovingthebike.com/?p=15822#comment-14715As you can imagine, Eric….there’s no wipes available for purchase here in Grenada, so it’s a good thing we have a shower. With all the companies making them these days, everyone in North America can get their hands on them and use wipes for their commute.
]]>By: Eric Hutchinshttp://lovingthebike.com/bicycle-commuting/the-smell-of-bicycle-commuting#comment-14712
Fri, 24 Jan 2014 19:12:00 +0000http://lovingthebike.com/?p=15822#comment-14712Old spice makes some wipes that are surprisingly not overpowering, and they do a great job for a quick cleanup. Makes you tolerable at work. (at least I think so 🙂 )
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